Greedo - SW [SOTDS] - Saga Legends (SL04)

Name: GreedoCollection: Star Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side]Number: SL04Source: A New HopeAvailability: August 2010License: Hasbro

The bounty hunter Greedo is hired by Jabba the Hutt to capture Han Solo. The Rodian finds his quarry, at last, in the Mos Eisley cantina. As he and Solo eye each other across the table, Greedo readies his blaster – unaware that Solo is doing the same thing.

Have you noticed that each year Hasbro compiles their Saga Legends roster that there is a running theme with many of the candidates? The original 2007 line was an army-builder’s and fans’ choice voter’s dream come true, the 2008 TLC Saga Legends focused on “Clone Wars” related realistic styled figures, the 2009 LC Saga Legends line was a truly “greatest hits” collection and the 2010 Star Wars "Shadow Of The Dark Side" line has a very heavy focus on bounty hunters. (And we think that while it’s not the best Saga Legends collection ever, it’s one of the cooler ones because of the heavy bounty hunter focus.) One awesome figure that got pulled from the archives at Hasbro was the 2006 VTSC Greedo figure. And if you want our opinion, this figure was sorely overdue for an update. What’s more, Hasbro repainted Greedo to be more authentic to the film. They didn’t expend any energy to change his vest unfortunately, but the updated paint job is very welcomed.

Many collectors seem to be unaware of the many changes that quite a few Saga Legends figures go through before their rerelease. And Greedo seems to be no exception. There are many differences (read improvements) to the 2010 Saga Legends Greedo and we will itemize them all for you here. The 2006 VTSC Greedo was a pale green. Hasbro has fixed that by giving Greedo a healthy dark green wash which has stuck well in the lands and grooves on the sculpt of the figure and has brought new depth and texture to his bumpy skin. This prominent detail also makes its way to his hands. The changes do not stop there. The yellow stripes on his outfit are now much paler and have less dirt than on the VTSC Greedo figure. The yellow parts of his flight suit are now significantly different and much more accurate. You’ll also find differences in his boots. More of that dirty wash collects in the crevices this time around and also looks significantly better. Hasbro still has decided to use the oversized soft-goods vest, but you should still have your Comm Tech Greedo so you can give this figure its plastic vest. (It looks so much better!)

Another change is that his gun looks to be cast in a shiner plastic whereas the original 2006 figure seemed to have a duller looking gun. If Hasbro decides to re-release these great figures, we find it particularly interesting that they expend the energy to make improvements, especially when it comes to paint jobs and better deco. Hasbro has said time and again through the Q&A sessions that adding depth to the characters via final washes is not cost effective and needs to be eliminated wherever possible. But perhaps this claim was made directly at the clone troopers they make. Greedo could have been simply repackaged as is and we bet it would have the same popularity as it did years ago. But the slight changes Hasbro has made to him has seemed to make Greedo another necessary purchase for collectors. Many people complain about Saga Legends, but they do actually sell. And we hope Hasbro keeps doing them and tweaking them for us. It makes collecting more fun. (Editor's Note: This version of Greedo has become more popular than anticipated. It goes for a hefty premium on eBay now!)